Three Trials of Love
by Reaper of Heroes
Summary: Raven Returned to Azarath for a very important mission, saving her mother. The woman who had cared for her through out her child hood, yet had never told her she loved her. Is it really worth it to risk your life to save some one who don't even know if tehy loved you? Well Raven thinks so, and thats exactly what she's going to do.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, I had this idea when I was watching the episode where Raven tries to escape her fate when by returning to Azarath, her home. So I got the idea written down to come back to later, well I got to it. There for I hope you enjoy this fanfic.**

Raven was drawing the symbols on the floor in sand with the candles placed at the points. She sat in the center of the pentacle shaped object with an ancient spell book in her lap and a pendant in her hand. She knew that this could possibly be a one way trip, but when you're saving someone you love it didn't matter. You did it any way, no matter the possible out comes or consequences. She cleared her mind of all thoughts but one, home. She began the incantation

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos" she kept chanting, faster and faster until she finished with "Azarath Azarath Azarath!" She opened her eyes and found herself being pulled slowly up a long, glowing blue tube. She flew up it at a fast pace, knowing she was running out of time. She had to reach her destination before it was to late. When Raven finally reached the end of the tunnel she was blinded by a flash of white light before she felt solid ground underneath her. She opened her eyes once more to find herself standing in the middle of a dark ally. Raven smiled, it had been a not a few weeks earlier that she had been here, but her surroundings were much different. Instead of it being a desolate ghost town, it was a lively city with children running in the streets and people chattering about.

"It's good to be home." She said to her self. It truly was good to be home, but there were more pressing matters to attend to than staring at the people around her. She pulled her hood up and walked quickly out of the ally way and into the street, she noticed that people were staring at her, but when you appear out of an ally you're bound to get a few stares. Raven knew she would be if she didn't hurry, so her pace quickened as she weaved in and out of people, heading for the Tower of the Elders. When she reached the entrance she found her self blocked by a pair of ghost guards, like the kind her and her friends had encountered in the stairwell under the library. The tower cast an ominous shadow around it in all directions, one that seemed ever present no matter where the sun was. It allowed the guards to survive even during the day. Raven removed her hood and they let her pass, of course they did. They wouldn't dream of harming the precious daughter of Trigon. After all, he had created them, given them life and purpose, so why shouldn't they respect her for being his daughter. She entered the large, black double doors with the emblem of Trigon in blood red across the door. It was ironic to her that Trigon, who had created Azarath, would be the most hated being of its residents. She reached the end of a dim hall that was lit only by a few flickering torches upon the walls. Raven opened another pair of doors that were identical to the ones at the front and entered a large, circular room with a large blue fire crackling in the center of the black, stone chamber. She saw thirteen people sitting on chairs above a single women with purple hair and a white cloak.

"Mom." Raven whispered to her self as her vision was adjusting to the room's lack of light. The people sitting above her mom turned and stared at her with expressionless faces. The one in the center, an old man with bloodshot eyes and pure white hair covering his face began to speak.

"So, you decided to come after all. It should be interesting to see what you have to say. Please take a seat next to your mother." He coughed after he had finished speaking, earning a few disgusted stares from the people around him, he was clearly the eldest of the group. Raven walked slowly over to her mother and to her surprise a wooden chair appeared in front of her. She had to think for a minute before she remembered that the Council of Elders was picked because of there advance abilities in magic. They were staring down at them with there cold, unrelenting eyes, as if they were contemplating the best way to kill them with there magic. The old man began to speak again.

"We will now commence the trial. This trial is condemning Arella or Angela Roth to death for almost causing the destruction of Earth. Laura will now read the official report." He sat back with a smirk on his face. He believed that there was nothing that could be done to stop her mom from being killed, well Raven knew one thing that most of the council members wouldn't. There were some perks to being the daughter of Trigon. An old lady, somewhere in her late fifties early sixties stood up and waved her hand. A scroll floated over from across the chamber and floated in place so she could read it.

"The charges against the accused are for the following reason. Conceiving a child with the demon lord Trigon to serve as his portal to Earth in order to destroy it. Even though he failed there were still casualties, twenty seven people died from his taking over and hundreds of others were left delusional for days. This is why we, the council bring these chares against you." She finished her speech with a shaky voice. Raven was appalled at this; they were condemning her mother for doing some thing without intention. She would not have this; she had her own speech ready and had the other option as well. She stood up with a look of determination on her face as she began to speak.

"I am Raven, daughter of Arella and Trigon. I..." She was cut off by the old man.

"We know who you are Miss. Rachel Roth. We know that you go by Raven as an alias just as your mother goes by Arella. There's no need for the introduction." He was really getting on her nerves, even worse than Beast Boy.

"Well, now that I can continue after I was so rudely interrupted. I believe that this council has there facts wrong. My mother had no idea that it was Trigon who she had married and conceived with until after I was born. There for she should not be held responsible for this and…." She was cut of again, yet this time by her mother, who had stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. When her mom spoke, it was with a solemn tone.

"Please forgive my daughter council members, she has not heard the full story. Yes I did not know he was Trigon when we met, but I did learn who he was in time. I was however to infatuated with love to care. So when we came to the point when we conceived, I did not care who he was, I just wanted to love him for the rest of my life. I did not however know of the prophecy, or what he would do to my daughter, so there for I don't see how your charges hold up. But I do still love him to this day." When se finished the room was silent, and Raven was shocked. She had always assumed that her mom had never known who he was until it was too late. This was news to her but at least her mom hadn't known about the prophecy or she would have had to side with the council. The old man looked at her with a triumphant grin spreading across his face.

"So you admit to knowing who he was, so you are guilty. It does not matter that you did not know about the prophecy though, because you still helped him create a portal to Earth. There fore this council has made its decision, you will be executed tomorrow at noon. You will be held in a chamber in this tower until it is time." The council was starting to leave and guards had come out to take her mother away, this was progressing in the worst possible way and Raven knew what she had to do.

"Wait!" She shouted. The council turned around to look at her.

"What is it?" Barked the old man, he had a look of annoyance on his face.

"I can stop you from doing this." Raven was staring the man back down with her cruel, icy stare.

"How, how can you stop a decision of the Council of Elders without it being punishable by law, tell me that little girl." He had said the last word with enough venom in his voice to kill a man. This stung Raven hard; she was still a young sixteen, which was really young compared to the dinosaur in front of her. But that just turned into fuel for her rage.

"Check section eighteen, part three. I think you'll find I can." She retorted. They council man snapped his fingers and a copy of the Azarathian Laws appeared in front of him. He scanned the part that Raven had told him and his eyes widened. His gaze quickly flicked back and forth between the book and Raven. She smirked, she had won, the council would not say she couldn't enact the law, it would show how corrupt they really were. How they used there power for there own gains without people knowing it. When the man finally straightened up he cleared his throat.

"Well it appears there is a way for you to stop this legally, however you must understand the severity of this action. If you fail, both you and your mother will be executed." He was looking nervous, and this got her smiling. She could pass the trials and save her mother and he knew that, and it scared him. If she was able to save her mother then all of the people of Azarath would know about it and that would diminish his power, and he did not want that to happen.

"I understand completely." Raven replied. "I want to take the trials."

"Very well, then let the Trials of Repentance commence." At the word commence the room began to change until it was an arena like in ancient Rome. With the council; sitting high above her and her mother sitting off to the side with guards on either side of her. "You will face three trials," Boomed the voice of the head council man, his voice reverberating around the room. "If you succeed in passing all three trials then your mother shall go free, cleared of all charges. However if you fail, you shall be punished equally to what your mother is, so death. As the chamber has changed there is no going back now." Raven understood what it would mean to fail, but she would not fail her mother. She was willing to go to such great lengths for her mom because love drove her decision. She knew love makes you do idiotic stuff, but even if you know it can doesn't mean you can prevent it. It was actually ironic to her that she was doing his out of love when neither of them had told each other they loved them, ever. She simply stood there waiting for her first challenge, unsure what it was, she just knew it would be physical. She had read in the book that the challenges would go in a simple order; a physical challenge, a mental challenge, and one specific to her. The council would get to pick it and that was the one that worried her the most. She would have no idea what to prepare for in the last challenge so that would be one she would fail on, if she failed. Raven turned around to face a barred off tunnel when a roar came from deep within it as the bars slowly rose. She took up a fighting stance, waiting for the thing to come out.

** How was it? I personally think it went well but then again I wrote it. I want to know what you people thought. Suggestions, flames, random comments, any thing. Also I want you all to know that I got Raven's name plus her mom's names off a Teen Titans Wiki sight so I'm pretty sure there right, not definite though. Tell me if I'm wrong please, I'll fix it if it is. So that's it for now.**

** assassin x 007 **


	2. Chapter 2

** Hello people, this is another exciting chapter by yours truly. I know that I haven't posted in a while, but with school and working on my other story (Which is almost over :(( Red X rising, but I was able to find time to get this chapter done so I hope you enjoy it. Also for shout outs; people who reviewed the last chapter were: TheDarkQueenOfRandomness, (Her Titans stories rock. I've read nearly all of them) and Speisla Cartoon Cartoon. So now for what every one came here for, the story.**

Raven had taken up a fighting stance, waiting for the thing to come out. There were more roars along with howls and the sound of something solid scraping against the wall. Raven was confused until they came out into the open.

"The Crystal Wolves!" She gasped. They were supposed to just be a legend, a myth. She watched in terror as the four multicolored wolves circled her, snarling viciously. Raven was now afraid. The Crystal Wolves were supposed to be the most dangerous animals in the universe. Each one a different color with a different abilities and attributes, all of them were deadly. The blue one had extreme speed, the green one looked like a porcupine with large spikes sticking out of its back that could be shot like missals. The red one was the size of a small car and could set itself on fire, and the pink one was the most dangerous of them all. It had the power of telepathy and could read the mind of its victims. That meant that no matter what she tried to do, the wolves would always know. She decided that if she could take out the pink one first then the others would be easier to beat.

"Well, well, well, what do you know the Crystal Wolves are not a myth after all" Shouted the old man chuckling. Raven wasn't paying attention to him, she was focused on surviving. She sent a blast of dark energy at the pink wolf but it dodged it with extreme ease. This went on for a while, Raven would be dodging the wolves attacks while trying to take out the pink one but had no success. She had no idea how she could beat them, but the pink wolf did, and that was the problem. How could she beat something that knew what she was going to do before she did? Raven had stopped paying attention for maybe half a second but the wolves had taken advantage of it, she suddenly felt a searing pain in her side as one of the green wolf's spikes tore through her. She fell to the ground clutching her side. She could feel the warmness of her blood soaking into her leotard and covering her hand. Raven could here her mother gasp at the sight of her lying helpless in a pool of her own blood on the cold, stone floor. Raven's sight began to dance in darkness while she could here the sound of the wolves closing in on her slowly. She knew that she couldn't stay conscious for much longer but could pull one last, desperate attempt to survive. When the wolves were within a few feet of her she unleashed her avatar. A large, shadowy black raven sprang from her body and entered an enraged frenzy. It attacked the wolves without relent, smashing them to pieces. Even with the pink ones mind reading ability they were doomed. The raven's speed put the blue one to shame and it was shadow, so nothing the green one shot at it could hurt it. It sliced through them like they were made of putty. Raven heard the clatter of crystal on the floor and smiled. She had survived the first trial, but was it for nothing? She knew that the council would not save her and the use of her avatar had drained her even more. Her only hope was for he mother to save her, unfortunately she was still chained to a chair with guards on either side. It would take a miracle now. Raven had only one thing on her mind as she slipped into darkness

"I love you mom."

Raven opened her eyes to the glare of the sun beaming through the window. She was laying on the bed in the towers infirmary, she was tired of being here. This had not been her only trip to this room, though she wished it would be her last. Then she remembered what had happened and stood up in bewilderment. How had she gotten here, and who had saved her? Or was she dead and this was just how she perceived it. She walked out of the room to find herself hit directly in the face with a wad of the most disgusting, crusty, smelly socks she had ever seen

"Beast Boy!" was her first reaction. This was not heaven, she could tell. There was no way that this would happen there, heck this couldn't be hell either. Having Beast Boy around was to cruel a punishment even for there, she had to be alive. So the question now was how. She took the pile of socks of her face to find herself facing a very sheepish looking green boy.

"Ha, ha, hey raven, you're up." He was quivering a little, and with good reason. The last time he had hit her with a stankball she had gone of on him and had chased him around the tower, blasting him with his own socks. But this time she was some what glad he had hit her. It meant that she was alive.

"Yo, Raven.' She heard from behind her. She turned to find a seven foot Cyborg crushing her in an enormous bear hug. "It is good to see you up. It's been nearly a week since you appeared in the middle of the living room."

"A week! I've been out cold for a week!" She exclaimed. This was terrible. Her mother was still living in the tower until she completed the trials or failed. She hadn't failed so her mom was safe but still, a week? Had the injury and the use of her avatar really drained her that much? She suddenly felt very hungry and her stomach growled loudly.

"Looks like some body's hungry." Cyborg smiled. "And by the sound of it your starving. This is the perfect excuse to make some barbeque!" He rushed of down the stares with BB chasing after him shouting

"And some tofu for me." Raven walked down the stairs slowly, bracing herself for Starfire's reaction. She was bound to nearly kill her with a hug, followed by a barrage of questions that she probably couldn't answer. When she entered the living area she was greeted by the sounds of Cyborg and Beast Boy about what was and was not going to be cooked on the grill and of course Starfire shouting

"Friend Raven, you are o.k.! I had begun to worry that you would never wake up" She followed that up with a bear hug as Raven had expected.

"Uh, Star, can't, breathe." She said in a strained voice. Starfire let her go and obin walked over from the couch.

"What happened? Why did you just appear in the middle of the living room covered in blood?" He was stareing at her quizzically.

"That is a long story, which I will tell you after lunch." She walked over and grabbed some of the ribs that Cyborg had made. She began to scarf down food like her life depended on it. She finally finished when all the ribs were gone and she felt full. The rest of the Titans were strewn across the room, eating there lunch or resting after eating too much. Raven walked over to the couch and sat down next to Robin who was finishing up his hamburger.

"So, you gona tell us what happened?" asked.

"Yes, after you tell me what exactly happened when I reappeared back in the living room." Robin glared at her before starting

"There isn't really much to tell. You appeared unconscious in a swirl of your black energy bleeding profusely. That's about it, now it's your turn." He was staring at her intently, waiting for her answer. Raven sighed and began to speak slowly.

"I returned to Azarath in order to save my mother from execution. Well the head of the council is an absolute douche bag, so I had to agree to do what is probably the most dangerous thing in my life in order to save her. The bleeding you saw was a result of one of the three trials I have to go through in order to save her. I still have two more to go and I plan n completing them." She gave the rest of them, especially Robin, an icy stare that seamed to say try and stop me. All of them got the message, just they had the same reaction,

"You gota let us help Raven."

"Indeed friend Raven, we have to help you with these trials that are dangerous enough to wound you so."

"If you're going back, were coming with you."

"You should have had us help you in the first place, then this wouldn't have happened."

"NO!" She shouted. She sunk into the floor and then reappeared behind them. "I will not put you in harms way, besides, you can't even go to Azarath. Only those who are from there or have the magic abilities to get there can. None of you qualify. And I have to do these trials on my own, it's in the rules. Now I appreciate all of your concern but that wont help me right now. I need to get back to Azarath and save my mother." She stormed off to her room, leaving her fiends in shock. She had never done something like hat before, just told them off because she had to do something alone. It was usually Robin who was the person who said they had to do things alone and Raven who convinced him otherwise.

Raven had finished creating the pentagon again with the symbols and candles in place. As she sat down to begin chanting a large, shadowy hand appeared from a vortex above her and dragged her slowly in while she screamed. Cyborg came bursting in with the others on his tale.

"That didn't sound good." He said.

"Well theses nothing we can do now." Robin reminded him. "She's off to who knows where?" But someone did know, and they were not pleased. They wanted Arella to die, and Raven along with her. But for now, they would just wait in the shadows and see what happened. Because after all, the girl had gotten injured on the first challenge, and the second was even harder.

**Well, that's it for now, if you just remember theses three things.**

**1. GOD IS GREAT**

**2. FAN FICTION IS GOOD**

**3. ALWAYS TIP YOUR WAITRESSES **

**Then you will be set for life. Review if you want, I don't care. Flames, random, what ever. Just remember this, 42 is the secret to life and the universe. Also, sorry for the wait, but I have three words for you. Homework sucks ass.**

** assassin x 007 out**


	3. Chapter 3

** Hey people, I'm back. I also have great news; I have finished my story Red X rising and can now devote all my time to finishing this story. (Crowd cheers, hoots, and hollers excitedly.) So you should expect an update on this story every week, give ort take a few days because of homework. Also these are the wonderful people who reviewed last chapter: ShadowMaster77, Speisla cartoon cartoon, (Space left for checking). And now I will shut up so you can read the story. **

Raven opened her eyes and found herself in the middle of a swirling, purple fog. Every thing was purple, the ground, the sky, every thing. The fog was extremely thick and she couldn't see more than two feet in front of her. The air was unusually cold and Raven wished she had a jacket. She began to wonder around, wondering where she was, and who had brought her here. She remembered that a giant, shadow hand that had come out of her ceiling and grabbed her, but after she had been dragged into the swirling vortex the hand had come out of, every thing had gone black. Raven saw a faint glow off in the distance.

"Finally, a way out." She muttered to her self. She walked swiftly towards the light when the ground crumbled beneath her. She saved herself just before a giant, purple golem crawled out of the crevice. It was close to eight feet tall and made of some sort of purple stone. It had jagged tusks jutting out of it's mouth and glowing red eyes. It spoke in a gravely voice

"Kill Raven." It pounced at her with surprising speed and she barely avoided the attack. She flew as fast as she could toward the light, trying to reach it before the golem got her. She looked over her shoulder and it had disappeared, vanished as if it had never been there. The crevice had vanished and there was no sign that any thing had happened.

"Ok, this is weird. First a giant hand grabs me and brings me to this place, then a golem attacks me yet there's no sign of it. What the heck is going on?" She shouted in frustration.

"I'm so glad you asked that." Came the scratchy voice of the council leader. Raven turned around to find an astro-projection of the man standing behind her.

"Where am I and why did that golem attack me?" She asked angrily. The old man just gave her an evil grin.

"There was no golem, nothing ever attacked you."

"What do you mean there was no golem, of course there was. I almost died by falling into the hole it crawled out of." She retorted.

"Think about it," He said chuckling "the purple fog, the golem that disappeared as if it was never there." He was down right laughing now, as if the answer was so obvious it was funny that she didn't get it. "Where could you possibly be?" He finally said after calming down.

"Purple, fog," Raven muttered to herself. "Where could I." She gasped, eyes bulging with shock, and quivering with fear. "I'm, I'm in the Nightmare Field, aren't I?" She whimpered. If that was where she actually was, then she regretted taking the trials at all.

"Congratulations!" The man was clapping "You finally figured it out. Now here is your prize, surviving it." He was cackling with glee. He knew that she would most likely die in here, and she agreed. This was one of the most dangerous places in existence. It was the embodiment of fear, its physical form. The place where all nightmares come from. A place of darkness, desperation, and terror, a place of pure evil. Raven swallowed loudly, dreading what she was about to do, because weather she admitted it or not, she was afraid, afraid of losing her friends, her mom, and herself. But there was one way to cross without having any harm fall upon you, but it had never been done. You have to walk across it without feeling fear, but that was practically impossible. This is because the field draws its power from your fears, so feeling no fear destroys its power. But that also works in reverse, it uses your fears to try and terrify people, break them, and kill them. This, Raven had to admit, was an extreme test of some ones mental capacity, and an excellent test for something like this.

"Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to start walking?" The old man asked.

"I'm going, just give me a minute." She retorted, she was really getting tiered of this guy. She took one last, deep breath, and started across the purple plain. She walked slowly and steadily, telling herself over and over again that every thing she would see was fake and there was nothing to be afraid of. It would all be in her head, nothing could touch her, nothing would be able to hurt her. But this wasn't going to help her, not with what she was afraid of, but she didn't know that. The field did, and it was going to use that. As she was walking she noticed a figure walking toward her from the distance, it was her mother.

"Mom!" She shouted, excited that she had been able to escape. But her mom just stared back at her disapprovingly with a frown on her face.

"Oh, so now your happy to see me, when your acting like a scarred little girl, but never when you can actually act your age, if you can ever act like any thing but a scared little girl." Her words stung, and brought tears to Ravens eyes,

"Mom, why are you talking like this? What did I do to deserve this?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about you left me to live in a dirty, disgusting dungeon for a week. Or perhaps it's the fact you killed the one person I ever loved, your father." Her mom was walking towards her now, glowering and scowling with an intense ferocity. Raven began to back away, scarred and finally seeing the truth.

"You're not my mother, you're a monster. I know my mother loved me, I just know it."

"How do you know that I love you? I've never said that I have, I left you to perish as the portal for your father. So how do you know I love you?" This caused tears to begin streaming down Raven face, it was too much. These were her fears come to life. She began to run and her mom chased her shouting insults like

"Worthless girl" and "cry baby." As she ran more figures and voices joined. She heard Beast Boy yelling

"Why would I ever like you? You are just creepy and boring." And Starfire saying

"Why do you lock yourself in your room? Is it because you don't know how to have fun?" More and more voices and more and more insults came the farther and farther she ran. She felt herself slowing down and the figures behind her began to catch up. She tried to fly away about the ground grabbed her ankles, causing her to crash. She looked up and found herself surrounded by her friends, but they weren't her friends anymore. They were twisted, nasty, disgusting mutants bent on killing her. Her friends, her mom, every one she cared about had turned on her. This was her worst nightmare come true,…

"It's a nightmare, just a nightmare." She whispered to herself. Of course, the only way to cross the Nightmare field was to not be afraid, yet she had still been afraid. But being afraid of a simple nightmare was stupid, because however real it seamed a nightmare couldn't hurt you. "That's all this is, one big nightmare. And you can wake up from a nightmare."

Raven opened her eyes and squinted as they adjusted to the light of the chamber. She was sitting in the middle of the coliseum shaped tower on a iron chair. She saw blood on her arms and realized that the Beast Boy from her nightmare had scratched her on that exact same arm.

"So that's how the Nightmare field works." Se muttered to herself before the council leader bean to speak.

"Well, well, well, looks like we have a little miracle maker here. You killed the crystal wolves and survived the Nightmare field, two things which no one has ever accomplished before. I have to congratulate you on that, though those will be short lived victories because you still have one more trial, and we get to choose it." He was cackling with glee, like he had formulated a trial so devastating, so conniving, so dangerous that he had no doubt in his mind that she would never survive it. Of course she was a little tiered of all this and the mans constant laughing at her.

"look," she deadpanned "we both know how this is going to go. You are going to give me some challenge that you think I am going to find impossible to complete, and in the end I will. So let's just free my mother now and get on with our lives." The old mans face began to contort with rage, that had obviously struck a nerve.

"Why I have never heard such an insolent, disrespectful, unappreciative thing in my life!" He roared, his face red and nostrils flaring.

"Then maybe you shouldn't do and say things that make you deserve it." Raven said as she walked toward the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" The leader asked her

"To my house, I will be back in the mourning to do your stupid trial." She left with the sound of the slamming door drowning out the furious shouts of the council leader.

**So that's it for this chapter, hope you enjoyed. Sorry it took so long but I had to finish Red X rising and between that and school I haven't had much time to work on this story as much as I would have liked. Review if you want, flames, constructive criticism, and randomness, what ever you want. Also I know exactly what the last trial will be, so don't try and tell me what to do.** **So that's all for now**

** assassin x 007 out.**


	4. Chapter 4

** I am the worst person in the history of the planet. I'm sorry about the wait; I just had a lot of things on my plate. I'm not even supposed to be on fanfiction right now, I'm supposed to be doing math homework, but I had to finish and update this story. I lost my muse and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't write a good chapter, and I refuse to post crap. Then when I finally got it back, my computer crashes, so between that and homework and soccer starting back up, I haven't had time. I feel terrible about not posting for so long, I am sorry. Also for shout-outs, this time we have ShadowMaster77, Speisla Cartoon Cartoon, and Juniper Night. Juniper Night has also agreed to be a beta reader for me, so thank her folks, I know I am. Now to the chapter you've all been ever so patiently waiting for. Again, Sorry.**

Raven squinted as the she opened her eyes to the blaze of the early morning sun. She had gone back to her house, but not Titans tower, no she had gone back to the house she had lived in with her mother. Her childhood home, where she learned how to walk, fly, use her powers, every thing, it brought back so many happy memories. She smiled as she remembered the first time she had ever used her powers, she had shattered her mom's favorite red vase with violets on it. Her mother had been so surprised about it she hadn't even gotten in trouble, but had been given a good talking too about having to meditate every day. She had been seven then, and at the time it had seemed like nothing, She would take thirty minutes a day to meditate, and her mother would join her sometimes. They would sit there in silence and just feel the warmth of each others presence. It was a comforting feeling, a safe feeling. But those days were over, there were no safe feelings anymore, only a lull of safety followed by a much bigger storm.

Raven walked onto her balcony and watched as the sun slowly rose into the sky, casting shades of purple, orange, red, and yellow across the roof tops and streets of Azarath. She remembered her mother used to get her up early sometimes to watch the sunrise and make sure she stayed up late enough to watch the sunset, just because she knew Raven loved to watch it. The sight was calming and peaceful. She still got up and watched the sunrise sometimes and always watched the sunset at night, but now that she had the kids she would get them up to watch the sunrise and keep them up to watch the sunset. It was something she enjoyed when she was a kid and she figured they would like it too. The kids, gosh, she hadn't seen them in days. Did they miss her? Were they worried about her? She had never gone more than one day away from them, but then neither had her mother from her. Did this make her a bad mother? Saying away from her kids for so long? They hadn't even met there grandma yet, now that of all things had to make her a terrible mother. She had promised her mom that she would introduce her to her grandkids if she ever had any, yet here she was with three kids and not one of them had met her mom.

"I've failed you mom." Raven whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. "But I hope saving you will fix it." She pulled her hood up, wiped her tears away, and flew off the balcony.

Raven landed in front of the dark tower, and the guards weren't there. That worried her; they were always there, rain or shine, night or day. She had to wonder—if they weren't there, then where were they. The only other possible place they could be was inside the tower, and the elders preferred them to stay outside. They loved the protection they provided, but hated the sight of them because it reminded them of Trigon, and the fact they were using his creations to defend themselves. She used her powers to open the giant double doors and entered the tower, walked the now familiar corridors to the main room which still looked like a colosseum.

"So nice of you to show up." Echoed the bitter voice of the council leader from above her, the rest of the members mumbled their good mornings to her.

"Spare me; just tell me the trial so I can get it over and done with" She monotoned. She was really tired of this guy, and quite frankly, she just didn't want to deal with him today. She had dealt with his snide remarks, rude comments, and evil stares every time she had been here, so she was looking forward to finishing this and getting out of here.

"Well, looks like some one got up on the wrong side of the bed today." He said, giving her a mischievous look. "Don't worry, this last trial is already decided upon. You will have the distinct honor of killing Trigon." That caught Raven by surprise, and then she smiled

"I already killed him, so there, I'm done." She walked towards her mother but the council man began to cackle with glee.

"Oh, that's what you think, little girl, but there is a bit of him still alive. You killed most of him, but a little bit of him still remains. That's why his ghost servants are still alive, because he is too. But, we the council have located him, so your trial is finishing him off once and for all." He was grinning from ear to ear at the expression on her face. She was total shocked, confused, and bewildered. She swore she had finished off every bit of her father, not even the little bit of him that was in her was left.

"Where is he?" She spat, she would finish this and save her mother. At this the council man fell down he was laughing so hard.

"Why, he is in this room." He gasped through breaths, clutching his sides.

"What?! Where?!" Raven shouted, spinning around, looking for her father. The fact he was here frightened her, she had the power to kill him last time because her friends had kept him from reaching full power. If he was at full power now he wasn't sure she could stop him.

"He, my dear" the old man said, regaining his composure "is in your mother." She stood there for what felt like an eternity, shocked by what had just been said. Her mother, her loving, caring, helpful mother had a piece of the giant, cruel, evil, demon Trigon in her. The woman who had raised her in a happy house hold, was also the demon who had tried to kill her in order to get to earth. It was too much; this was too much to process. Because if what the council man said was true, she would have to kill her mother, and that was something she cold never do, not in a million years.

"I-I can't" She stammered. "I can't kill my mother." She realized the council man had tricked her; he had devised the ultimate plan. If she wanted to live, then she killed her mother, but if she didn't then they would both die. No wonder he had been acting so arrogant, he had nothing to lose, because either way her mother died.

"Now, hold on a minute." Came a small, scratchy voice. Raven looked up and saw another one of the council members standing up. "If my old memory serves me right, and it usually does, there is a way to split the two parts of Arella." The old woman smiled at her.

"Alatza, this was not part of the plan!" Hissed the council leader.

"Forget your plan you old snake!" She shouted at him. "I'm tired of you bullying us around. And Herald." She added.

"Yes Alatza?" he asked.

"You need to refer to me as mother, because last time I checked, I was your mom." She was giving him a stare Raven recognized as the infamous parent stare. The stare that intimidates your kids no matter how old they were, she had it down pat for her kids.

"Ye-yes mother" he mumbled, slumping his head in shame and embarrassment. The rest of the council members were snickering and laughing behind him.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes, splitting the two parts. There is a spell that can bring the two parts of Arella apart, but it is complicated and requires the combination of two casters. Herald, you get to help."

"But mom, I don't want to." He whined as he pouted.

"It doesn't matter what you want Herald." The old woman said sweetly. "I told you to do something, and I'm your mother so have to do it. That's how this works." The council leader mumbled something inaudible to Raven but it earned him a slap from his mother, and that caused every one, including herself, to start laughing. The sight of a ninety some year old woman slapping her grown up son was priceless. After the council leader got over the shock of his mother slapping him, they started the spell. From what Raven could hear, it was a complicated spell. In fact, it was the most complicated spell he had ever heard. When they finished they pointed at her mother. Instantly she began to writhe around her chair and glow red. When she stopped there was a glowing red version of her mother standing next her actual mother. It shook its head then cried out "Freedom, freedom at last!" Then it locked eyes with Raven. It pitch black eyes that seemed like soul sucking, icy pits. But then they began to glow yellow as it roared "You!" It slammed into her with incredible speed, sending her flying back into the wall, causing her vision to swim with patches of black. She shakily stood up and barely had time before the next wild blow hit her across her back. Raven was sprawled across the floor, almost blacked out. She had no strength to stand up and none for her avatar either. This was the hardest fight she had ever been in before, and she wasn't sure she would survive it.

"You weak mortal, you pathetic girl" Came the demonic voice of the Trigon mom above her. "Did you honestly think you could stop me? Defeat me again? I was weak last time, but this time I am at full strength and nothing will stop me." It raised its fist for the final blow, but before it could land Raven kicked it in the stomach, causing it to stumble back a little.

"Looks like there's a little fight left in you after all, I will enjoy crushing it along with you." It smiled as it raised its hand. A ball of fire started to form, and it grew. Raven recognized this; it was her father's greatest attack. He would send a single fire ball after a person, and it would chase them for the rest of there life, threatening to kill them. They would never be able to live in peace once it began to chase them.

"No." She said, and then she attacked. Standing up and sending a barrage of blasts at it. The fire ball disappeared as it tried to dodge the attacks. Blow after blow landed causing the demon mom to back up with each hit.

"I will not let you hurt me." Raven said with a blast. "I will not let you hurt my mother." She said with another blast. "I will not let you hurt anyone." She said with one final blast, finishing it off, finishing off Trigon, once and for all. She stood there painting heavily, staring at the spot where it had just stood. She had done it, she had saved her mother.

"I must congratulate you my dear." Came the sweet voice of Alatza. "You have not once, but twice defeated your father. You have also beaten all of the trials, so you and your mother may go free.' She smiled, and waved her hand in Arella's direction. The clamps on her chair opened and she stood up, smiling at Raven. Raven ran and hugged her. It had been years since she had hugged her mom, and she missed it. This is what a feeling of security was like, a feeling of safety.

"Oh Raven, I knew you could do it." Her mom whispered in her ear.

"Thanks mom." She whispered back.

"You're welcome."

"Oh and mom." Raven added.

"Yes sweetheart?" asked Arella.

"I love you."

"I love you too." And at that moment Raven knew she had been right all along. Her mom did love her, and she loved her mom.

** Well, that's the story, that's the end. I know it's a short story, but that's what this was going to be from the beginning. Hoped you liked it, because there will be a sequel. It's going to be titled Meeting the Grandkids. It's probably going to be a one shot sequel, but oh well. If you can't guess what it's about from the title then you are pretty dumb. HOWEVER I will be writing the sequel to Red X rising first, so sorry for those of you who were excited for the sequel to this one, it's just a prior obligation that I want to write cause I got some really good ideas for it. So for now**

** assassin x 007 out**


End file.
